Disclosed in this application is a debris shield or barrier adapted to be fitted to a shaft of a hand-held string trimmer, and which functions to block grass, weed and other debris developed from operation of the string trimmer from being thrown onto legs and feet of an individual using the string trimmer.
Cutting grass and weeds with a string trimmer can be a messy operation, particularly in areas where weeds and grass are overgrown. Typically, after using a string trimmer for any length of time, an individual's lower legs and feet become coated with cuttings from the vegetation being trimmed. Additionally, as a string trimmer operates to basically beat vegetation to pieces instead of neatly cutting it with a blade, fleshy and sappy vegetation cut with a string trimmer develops cuttings that are damp and sticky and which form a coating that must be washed off skin and may permanently stain clothes. Additionally, during operation of the trimmer, the operator will typically need to feed string that breaks off from the head of the trimmer. In most trimmers, this feed operation is accomplished by bumping the lower portion of the trimmer against the ground or other surface. A blade mounted to a string guard then cuts off any excess length of string, which may strike the user. Applicant's debris shield also blocks these cut or broken pieces of cutting string.
While most string trimmers are provided with a small, relatively flat string guard that encircles a rearward portion of the arc encompassed by the string, these guards do little to nothing to prevent cuttings from being thrown toward the user, and serve mainly for the mounting of the small knife for trimming excess lengths of string. Additionally, these guards may to some extent prevent a user from inadvertently causing the rotating string from coming into contact with legs or feet of the user.
Accordingly, it is one object of the invention to provide a debris shield mountable to one side of the head of a string trimmer that serves to block debris from being thrown back toward legs and feet of a user. Other important objects will become apparent upon a reading of the following specification.